The Role of Law during and after the War in Ukraine
On 28 October 2022, the Norwegian Centre for Holocaust and Minority Studies organised the international conference ‘Justice Denied: Coming to Terms with History in Post-Conflict Societies’, which explored the long-term consequences of limited, delayed or denied justice by drawing lessons from contemporary and historical cases. In her keynote speech, Cecilie Hellestveit from the Norwegian Academy of International Law addressed the role of law in the war in Ukraine.
Dr. Cecilie Hellestveit described the current conflict in Ukraine as a scenario in which the breadth of international humanitarian law applies, and for which transitional justice institutions have been established. The situation in Ukraine will thus offer a diagnosis of how international humanitarian law, enforcement and accountability/tribunal mechanisms are really functioning.
Evidence and institutional support has already been witnessed in connection with the war in Ukraine
In her presentation, Dr. Hellestveit examined the international legal frameworks and mechanisms of relevance during the conflict (ius in bello), as well as those that will become applicable after capitulation (ius post bellum). She explained that international enforcement and compliance mechanisms have reached a high level of maturity, as they rely on principles and practices that have been continuously tested in recent decades. Although there will certainly be challenges for accountability in the subsequent stages of the conflict, Dr. Hellestveit remains confident that the international law system will manage to overcome some of these, since ‘the strongest response in history in terms of evidence and institutional support‘ has already been witnessed in connection with the war in Ukraine. She concluded her keynote address by warning against investing too much effort into trying to prosecute highest-level political leadership for aggression rather than other international crimes, as it risks diverting attention from the unique opportunity that the current crisis offers in terms of conducting a true transitional justice process that is in line with the established framework.